Today, the Province released further details on how it plans to bolster health care in Ontario.
“Over the past few weeks, we have been actively engaging with frontline partners, hospital, long-term care and union leadership, and our best experts to identify concrete and actionable solutions to respond to urgent pressures, as well as prepare for any potential surge in the winter months,” it states in a document (pdf) released today.
Plan to Stay Open: Health System Stability and Recovery makes promises to free up hospital beds and ease pressures on emergency departments. It also promises to add more than 6,000 additional healthcare workers to the system and temporarily remove exam fees for internationally trained and retired nurses, while expanding 9-1-1 models of care “to provide better, more appropriate care away from emergency departments and free up over 2,500 hospital beds to significantly reduce the
current hospital bed shortage so that care continues to be there for those who need it and Ontario stays open, now and in the future.”
The plan includes five areas of focus:
- Preserving Hospital Capacity
- Providing the right care in the right place
- Further reduction of surgical wait-lists
- Easing pressure on Emergency Departments
- Further expanding Ontario’s healthcare workforce
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Underfunding and understaffing, lack of planning for our grey tsunami of retirement of skilled personnel and increasing needs and population growth. The pandemic has opened up so many cracks in the system that there is no quick patchwork to fix it. This new plan ” to keep Ontario Open” by shipping out the most vulnerable and older persons is just plain wrong. They might as well start giving us a 65 th birthday card with a ticket for MAID. Well done and best wishes for a smooth Transition to the Next Life, from your Governments.
Yes, I agree with the comments above. Those who work in the system understand that it has been in crisis for at least 20 years–it began when the federal government began to back away from funding the provincial healthcare systems in the percentage that they had agreed to pay. In addition, the “grey tsunami” is exacerbating the problem (it was projected many, many decades ago). Covid just pushed a further decline–it did not manufacture it.
Yes, there’s a link in Doppler post. However, I suggest having a look see on The Ontario Health Coalition website, as well. They have our best interests at heart. Ford et al do not!
There is a link to the information released by the Province about the plan in the post.
Interesting. There’s no mention of the move towards privatization of services…
For detailed and CORRECT info re the new ‘plan’ go to Ontario Health Coalition.
Ford does not have our best interests at heart. The new ‘plan’ is disturbing, shocking, and scary.
Ralph Cliffe: yes, for goodness sakes – hire more nurses! But, pay them a decent wage with decent working conditions. All medical hospital staff are overworked and stressed. One only needs to read The Toronto Star on a regular basis, to see that our Health Care System, including the Emergency Departments, are in crisis. It is not ‘fake news.’
What will it take for DF to listen, hear, and take immediate action?
Talk is cheap. Lets see some action.
I have heard the same song for over 70 years.
No matter what government is in power
we would be receiving the same BS.
You have to have the people, which you do not have!
Hire nurses by the thousands. 2 years from now you will be laying
them all off as surplus employees.